New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court has said it is hard to believe a woman had physical intimacy with a man in their live-in relationship for 16 years on false promise of marriage, media reports said.

The court made the observation while quashing a complaint against a bank official, who was accused by his live-in partner, a lecturer, of rape.

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta refused to accept the woman's plea after she claimed to have had sexual relationship with the banker on the false promise of marriage for 16 years.

"It is hard to believe that the complainant kept on bending to the demands of the appellant for a period of nearly 16 years without raising any protest to any quarter that the appellant was exploiting her sexually under the pretext of a false promise of marriage," the bench said as quoted by The Times of India.

"The prolonged period of 16 years during which the sexual relations continued unabatedly between the parties, is sufficient to conclude that there was never an element of force or deceit in the relationship," it added.